A Rose by Any Other Name

The decision on my brand name was surprisingly easy - Magpie and Lace. I'm a through-and-through magpie, my head turns and my heart longs as soon as I see any jewellery or pretty things. And what is prettier and more dainty than lace?

So once I had decided on a name, I designed myself a logo. I researched some pictures of magpies and then drew an outline of what I wanted as well as the text. I then scanned this in used Inkscape, a free download to convert it into a logo that, not to brag, I'm rather proud of.

So this ...                                                                    

Became this ...

Not bad right? Now that I had a name I could set up an Etsy shop (more on that in a later post) and order some business cards from Vistaprint to start spreading the word. It was incredibly easy to do both. And now I'm ready for the world as Magpie and Lace. Bring it on!

New Beginnings

In business you must first identify a need, and my need was that I had far too much yarn and wasted a lot of time crocheting / knitting / tatting / macrame-ing things that a) were never finished or b) never saw the light of day again. So, how best to fix my need than to start selling my creations? Having seen some pretty crocheted flower bookmarks online the inspiration took me. They're quick and easy and you can create oh-so-beautiful things so why not start with that? My mother will be happy that I've finally decided to use up all the yarn I've bought to make some money!

But, as with most of my projects, my self-awareness that I'm a starter and not a finisher looms like a hazy monster on the horizon, threatening to materialise as time passes until I've got a sack full of bookmarks but no more motivation to shift them. So, I thought, perhaps a blog detailing my adventure will motivate me to carry on as I can look back and see the progress I've made and the steps I need to go ahead. Perhaps, the more I write the more the monster will fade, or at least be kept at bay.

And also, I just really enjoy crocheting, and I hope others like to receive my crocheting, so why not bring that to a larger audience.

So, with a hazy procrastination monster on the horizon, a sackful of yarn and a Pinterest full of ideas let's start on this new beginning.